W+K PORTLAND

One Step Big Shot

 

Saturday, May 15th will see the opening of One Step Big Shot: Portraits by Andy Warhol and Gus Van Sant. Whether for casting or screen printing, the exhibit explores the use of Polaroid photography between these two artists.

Register today for your spot on the reserved bus coach. The registration fee is $10 and covers your round trip from Portland to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

Register here.

Saturday May 15th
3:00 - 4:00 pm - View "Cut-ups” at PDX.
Light refreshments will be served.

PDX Contemporary Art
925 Northwest Flanders Street
Portland, OR 97209

Pickups will be at the following locations:
Bus Departure - 4:00 pm in Portland on NW 9th at Flanders
Bus Departure - 4:30 pm at Bridgeport Village 

This event is approved by John Jay.

A Visit From John Maeda

John Maeda may have gotten his start as a software engineer at MIT, but his passion for design took his life on a journey where these two fields intersect. Thanks to John Jay- Maeda took the time to visit and speak with us in Portland today. His talk focused on human connections, being present and inspiring people to do more with their lives. It sent us all back to our desks (and lives) with a new sense of purpose. 

John is currently the president of RISD. Check out his book “Simplicity” or view John's profile and speeches for the TED Talks.
 

Yan Pei-Ming’s ‘Landscape of Childhood’ By John Jay

The 798 art district of Beijing continues to amaze me. Even during the frenetic construction phase for the forthcoming first Beijing 798 Biennale, there is still enough provocation and stimulation to bring me back on consecutive days, despite the oppressive humidity.

One of the consistent must-sees of this ne plus ultra arts compound is the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), one of the first major nonprofit art centers in China, founded by Guy and Myriam Ullens. The UCCA is currently showing “Landscape of Childhood,” an exhibition featuring the work of Yan Pei-Ming, a painter who has born in Shanghai in 1960 and has lived in Dijon, France, since the 1980s.

His concern for social conflict and crisis fuels his incendiary ideas, igniting human emotions through monochromatic black and white images. “Landscape of Childhood” is a comment on the overlooked status of endangered children in China. It comprises 34 large flags printed with black and white portraits of such kids, along with some huge canvases mounted on the walls. Steel tubes powered by motors mounted on the ceiling blow wind down on each flag, giving the gallery the sound of an industrial tornado as you walk among the billowing portraits. The effect is of moving through a landscape in a mood of impending crisis. 

Here's a link to the original article.

What's in the box?

A huuuuge box from the Medicom Toy Corporation showed up today causing quite a stir. Guess the contents and the intended recipient... Hint: His initials are J.J.

 

Creative Dreams

What is arguably one of the most desired creative canvases today?
Where do the most influential creative people want to work?
Where are the top minds of architecture, design, art, fashion, publishing all gathering to collaborate with each other?
From pop-up concepts to iconic brand destination architecture, even in this economic shake-down…the retail store has remained a place of outlet for such creative talents.

All over the world, some of the most dynamic and innovative work is being created around retail concepts. The top talent from architects Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas, to magazine editors such as Kim Hastreiter of The Paper, superstar industrial designers such as Naoto Fukasawa and Marcel Wanders, to contemporary artists and curators such as Jeffrey Deitch…all enthusiastically created and inspired by retail concepts and spaces.

Their wish is to apply their highest form of sophistication and creativity into a three dimensional cultural space. Retail is the emotional intersection of design and experience.

_______________________________________________________________________________________ The following is from NY Times Style Magazine Blog by John Jay
Creative Consumption | Vogue Nippon + Comme des Garçons


A concept window by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel.

The worlds of publishing and fashion have felt the wrath of the economic storm, with both industries struggling to find relevance for consumers who represent the new normal. Tokyo hasn’t been immune to global shifts in consumption habits and desires, yet it remains the most passionate consumer culture in the world. The desire for new ideas has not diminished, and for this very demanding audience, imaginative design and originality in marketing are more critical than ever.

Tokyo brands have elevated creative collaborations into a modern marketing art form, and now Magazine Alive brings together two of the city’s most innovative forces: Vogue Nippon and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons. To celebrate the magazine’s 10th anniversary, each monthly issue of Vogue Nippon over the next six months will come to life at the Comme des Garçons flex retail space on Kota Dori in the Aoyama neighborhood. This retail and gallery space is the brand’s experimental lab, which recently showcased its unlikely collaboration with Louis Vuitton. A mural from Takashi Murakami’s shop, Manga X Mode, on the top floor of the Magazine Alive store in Tokyo.

The Magazine Alive shop debuted with Vogue Nippon’s July concept, Manga X Mode. The artist Takashi Murakami was given the top floor, where he presented limited-edition products based on the anime legend Magical Princess. The front window featured a silver Chanel mannequin fantasy by Karl Lagerfeld, while more unique three-dimensional art was provided by Jun Takahashi of Undercover from his Grace collection. Knits by Martin Margiela, silk gowns by Undercover and T-shirts with anime images of fashion icons (including Hedi Slimane, Marc Jacobs and Donatella Versace) gave the shop a diverse view of Japanese pop culture’s relationship with style.

Kawakubo and the editors of Vogue Nippon made sure that fashion reinforced its sense of humor, craft and retail innovation, without the boring attitude. At least someone in the fashion world is having fun.

By:John Jay

What's John up to?

Just when you were thinking to yourself, what is John Jay up to? Then, out of nowhere, Boom, he appears and he's got a story for you. This one is from Milan and it's an article he wrote for the New York Times on the Milan Furniture Fair | The Senseware Exhibition.

John Jay talks about Chinatown and Portland

A great Oregonian interview with John Jay about what's next for Portland's Chinatown and Old Town.

The recession has ended Portland's recent Gilded Age of development and deal making. But many important people still see growth and expansion as inevitable, in particular in Chinatown. A rejuvenated neighborhood, they say, is essential to make downtown more complete and thriving.

One of those people is John Jay, an executive creative director at Wieden+Kennedy and one of the most sought after consiglieres in advertising. Jay has a personal and financial stake in Chinatown's renaissance. Three years ago, he began leasing a second-story space at Northwest Fifth Avenue and Couch Street, an airy corner with vertiginous views of his favorite part of town that Jay dubbed "Studio J."

This is where Jay and his product-designer wife, Janet, hold court, entertaining visiting business executives from around the world, for example. It's also where they hatch personal business projects.

One of those projects is a restaurant called Ping, a collaboration with Andy Ricker of Pok Pok. It is slated to open next year in the space once occupied by the legendary den of drinking, Hung Far Low, on Northwest Fourth Ave.

Jay is savvy, driven and smart enough to help push a transformation in Chinatown. You may not have heard of him, but you've surely been touched as a consumer by Jay's strategic brilliance. For 13 years he worked at Bloomingdale's as a creative and marketing director before joining advertising powerhouse Wieden+Kennedy in 1993. Within three years, Jay became a partner in the Portland agency. He now spends roughly half the year in Asia where he helped open the agency's offices in Tokyo, Shanghai and India.

Recently, Jay talked to The Oregonian about Chinatown -- its political struggles and social tensions, its potential as a business and cultural hub, even a little bit about his personal experiences as a Chinese American. It's a sign of his work ethic that after the late afternoon interview he e-mailed additional thoughts -- at around 3 a.m., which he says is when he normally finishes his workday.

Click here to read more.

8.8.08

John C Jay's Mythology of Eight article as seen in this past weekends SF Chronicle.

W+KERS LOOK ON APPROVINGLY AS JOHN JAY TURNS OFF THE MOON WITH HIS MIND

Where is John Jay?

John's been out of the office this past week and we've been trying to find him. It turns out he's been on a private jet with Romanelli, Mark Parker, and Kanye West headed to NYC for the official celebration of Nike's iconic AF-1.